* Minister says nationalisation won't happen in her lifetime
* ANC youth describes minister as "dishonest"
(Adds youth wing reaction, Anglo, background, details)
By James Macharia
CAPE TOWN, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Nationalisation of South Africa's mines is not government policy, and is unlikely to be adopted any time soon, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu said on Tuesday, rejecting calls from the ANC's youth wing.
South Africa is the world's biggest producer of platinum and the world's number three gold producer, and although the influence of mining on gross domestic product has declined, particularly as gold reserves become exhausted, the sector remains one of the country's major employers.
The nationalisation debate is likely to muddy the waters even further in South Africa's mining sector, where investors are already grappling with the uncertainty of a recession, job cuts and impending high power tariff increases.
The militant youth wing of the ruling African National Congress said in a statement it would push for mines to be nationalised, describing Shabangu as disingenuous after she said nationalisation would not happen in her lifetime.
Shabangu said even though the ANC had not discussed nationalisation of mines, it was a sign of democracy to debate nationalisation as a form of intellectual discourse.
"Nationalisation of mines is not government policy. In my lifetime there will be no nationalisation of mines. Maybe when I'm dead, and rest assured I'm not dying next week," Shabangu told a media briefing at a mining conference in Cape Town.
"Debating nationalisation is healthy, but the ruling party has not adopted nationalisation as a policy and therefore the government has also not taken this up," she said.
PUSH TO THE LEFT
ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema has been one of the most vocal campaigners for a more leftist economic policy under President Jacob Zuma. His demands include that the state should assume majority ownership of mines, banks and other industries.
"If Malema wants to engage in an intellectual debate, that is his choice, we are a democracy. If Malema flexes his muscles as a young person, and engages in intellectual and academic exercise, why must we stop him?" Shabangu said.
But the ANC's youth wing said it would not back down.
"In our internal discussion with Minister Shabangu, she said that she does not disagree with the ANC Youth League, but because she is now trying to impress imperialists, she changes her tone," spokesman Floyd Shivambu said in a statement.
"We call on the Minister of Minerals to stop misleading investors, because these investors should also make input into the discussion document on the Nationalisation of Mines, which is going to be reality not in the distant future."
Talk of nationalisation of mines has not led to panic selling of shares or a planned exit from the mining sector, but Anglo American Plc, the biggest investor in South African mining, said in a statement any action taken to impair the industry would have serious economic costs, but that it was confident the government would stick to free-market policies.
Some investors worry that the ANC's youth wing's drive for nationalisation may gain momentum and lead to Zuma giving in to pressure from labour union and communist allies who helped propell him to power last year.
These allies are demanding a swing to the left, away from existing pro-business policies, as payback.
Shabangu said the state would participate in the mining sector, by running state-owned firms and by holding shares in companies such as Anglo, but such involvement was strategic and in the national interest.
"But (not) nationalisation. You can't say nationalisation is strategic, because nationalisation is about everything, and that's not the route we're taking." (Editing by Marius Bosch and Giles Elgood)